“Of particular worry in Japan is the use of a homeopathic sugar pill for babies. The treatment has spread among midwives as more women choose natural childbirth at home or at a midwife center instead of hospitals. After a damages suit resulting from the death of an infant, however, the Japanese Midwives' Association has begun looking into how widely the sugar remedy is being used among its 8,500 members. Some midwives give the pills to newborns in their care instead of Vitamin-K2 syrup, recommended by the health ministry to reduce risks of bleeding in the skull. In the trial that opened Wednesday at the Yamaguchi District Court, a 33-year-old woman is demanding 56 million yen ($655,000) in compensation from a 43-year-old midwife. The mother said her daughter, born in August 2009, died of a subdural hematoma two months later due to Vitamin K deficiency because the midwife did not give her the syrup. The midwives association sent questionnaires to its 47 branches to "find out if there are problems" in the use of homeopathic remedies. Many of its branches have held lectures that placed homeopathy in a favorable light. Also, at a 2008 meeting of the Japan Academy of Midwifery, the head of the Japanese Homoeopathic Medical Association spoke to the group. "We do not categorically deny (the efficacy of) homeopathy, but there are problems such as (midwives) refusing to use Vitamin-K2 or vaccinations," said Kiyoko Okamoto, a senior board member of the midwives association.” Japanese press report (6th August 2010)